"I've felt that the Metroplex plays incredible football, there's incredible coaches and they prepare you for the playoffs," said Cedar Hill football coach Joey McGuire, whose Longhorns beat Katy 34-24 in the Class 5A Division II final Saturday at AT&T Stadium for the program's second title.

That doesn't mean Houston is lacking in any of those departments. And don't expect Houston to stay without a title for long.

A year after the Metroplex swept the 5A and 4A titles in 2005, La Marque won its fifth state championship. The next season, Katy and Lamar Consolidated brought home titles.

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But with this season in the books, the area looks ahead to 2014. Here are four teams that could find themselves playing after Thanksgiving and deep into next season:

Brenham

This season's version of the Cubs broke a stigma of underperforming teams. They won five playoff games - four more than the previous three teams combined. Now it's about just making sure the postseason success isn't a one-year window.

Brenham returns quarterback Caleb Hill, who threw for 216 yards and a touchdown in the state championship game Saturday, and his backfield mate Earnest Patterson, who ran for 83 yards. The biggest challenge will be finding Hill new targets. Nine of Brenham's 11 completions in the final were caught by seniors.

George Ranch

If the Longhorns can improve in their third year like they did in their second, they might just find themselves playing for a championship. This seasonm, they went from five wins to the state quarterfinals.

The biggest test is replacing an all-senior offensive line and 1,100-yard running back Collins Kwabena. But playmakers return. Quarterback Timon Nolan beat opponents with his arm and legs; Darius Anderson and Xavian Marks return in the backfield.

Defensively, Marks' brother, Torin, will roam the secondary; defensive end Kingsley Keke could be the top talent in Houston next year.

Katy

Simply put, the Tigers were not only in position to add a state championship this season, but another in the next year or two. Eight sophomores started for Katy, including three in the secondary and three in the backfield. Kyle Porter and Rodney Anderson combined for more than 3,800 rushing yards this season; quarterback Garrett Doiron should only improve with time.

Katy has played 32 games the last two seasons - those extra weeks will only help the younger players.

Manvel

The Mavericks have bodies to replace in the trenches but return arguably the area's top offensive skill players.

That starts with quarterback D'Eriq King, whose numbers are the stuff of video games. In four playoff contests, he totaled 20 touchdowns and had three 100-yard rushing outings.

Gary Haynes was his top target and caught 13 touchdowns. Reggie Hemphill, a sophomore, caught 10.

If Manvel was going to have a bump, it might have been 2013. Instead, the Mavericks won 12 games and kept the bar high.